Coca-Cola India Launches Thums Up Charged No Sugar

New Delhi, April 10, 2018:Coca-Cola India, one of the country’s leading beverage companies, today announced the launch of Thums Up Charged No Sugar, the company’s first home-grown beverage to be offered in a no sugar variant with the same strong taste and extra thunder. The introduction of the new variant is a step towards Coca-Cola India’s commitment to promote moderation and offer people the choice of regular, low-sugar and no-sugar options to choose from. Consumers can now enjoy their favourite Thums Up taste with the same taste while staying conscious of their sugar intake.

Commenting on the launch, Ishteyaque Amjad, Vice President, Public Affairs & Communication at Coca Cola India & South West Asia, said, “Coca-Cola India is accelerating its strategic evolution to become a total beverage company by offering innovative and localized beverage choices to consumers. The launch of Thums Up Charged No Sugar not only marks the expansion of our product portfolio but also demonstrates our efforts to innovate products locally that meet changing consumer tastes and preferences. This is a significant milestone for us in our sugar reduction strategy and I am delighted to announce that leading this journey is our very own home grown brand Thums Up.”

Vijay Parasuraman, Vice President-Marketing at Coca-Cola India & South West Asiasaid, “Last year, we introduced Thums Up Charged to celebrate the forty thunderous years of the iconic brand Thums Up and were elated to see the love amongst our consumers. We are now eager to take the iconicity of this brand to the next level with Thums Up Charged No Sugar and recruit more consumers in our journey to make Thums Up the first home-grown billion-dollar beverage brand. The no-sugar, no-calorie variant is aimed at consumers who want to balance their sugar intake and enjoy their favorite drink as well. Additionally, we are supporting the brand by going beyond the traditional marketing practices and directly engaging with the consumers through interactive platforms and innovative formats.”

To connect with its core drinkers, Coca-Cola India has unveiled a creative and innovative marketing campaign in association with Marvel. The cans and PET bottles of Thums Up Charged No Sugar feature illustrations of four Marvel Avengers Super Heroes namely Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and Black Widow. These superheroes share the attributes with the brand which is constantly challenging themselves to unleash their true potential. This association is expected to deepen the company’s engagement with millennials and youth.

“This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We are constantly seeking fun new ways to make our stories and characters a part of the everyday lives of our fans,” said Bikram Duggal, Executive Director and Head – Studios & Chief Marketing Officer, Disney India. “We couldn’t be more excited about collaborating with Coca-Cola India in preparation for our historic release -- Avengers: Infinity War,” he added.

The multi-faceted campaign includes TV Commercials featuring the Avengers, along with promotions on the brand’s social media pages across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thums Up, the flagship brand, encourages ‘Never Settle For Less’ and epitomizes the ‘Go get the superior’ attitude. This grit and will personifies the strength of the strong-tasting cola. The company is also undertaking on-ground activations including sampling across 14 cities, exclusive movie previews and in-store branded displays across modern trade.

Commenting on the TVC, Sainath Saraban, Creative Head, Leo Burnett, said, “Just like the effervescence that rises to the top in a bottle of Thums Up Charged No Sugar, the heroes too rise when it is time to prove themselves. Thums Up Charged No Sugar is a metaphor for the display of inner strength that superheroes demonstrate. Through this TVC, we have tried to achieve this in a visually gripping manner. The film is an association between two huge and exciting brands - Marvel Avengers and Thums Up Charged No Sugar. There is a palpable excitement, energy, action and joy that both bring to their fans.”

Creative Team on the new Thums Up Charged No Sugar campaign:

Agency: Leo Burnett

Creative Head: Sainath Saraban

Production House: Picture Perfect

Post Production House: Prana

Director: TJ Hall

DOP: Sunil Patel

About Coca-Cola India

Coca-Cola in India is one of the country’s leading beverage companies, offering a range of healthy, safe, high quality, refreshing beverage options to consumers. Since its re-entry in 1993, the company has been refreshing consumers with its beverage products - Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Thums Up Charged, Fanta, Fanta Green Mango, Limca, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Maaza, VIO flavoured milk ‘Almond Delight’ and ‘Kesar Delight’, Minute Maid range of juices, FUZE tea, Georgia and Georgia gold range of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Aquarius, Schweppes, SmartWater, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. The Company along with its owned bottling operation and other bottling partners, through a strong network of over 2.6 million retail outlets, touches the lives of millions of consumers, at a rate of more than 500 servings per second. Its brands are some of the most preferred and most sold beverages in the country – Thums Up and Sprite – being the top two selling sparkling beverages.

The Coca-Cola India system provides direct employment to 25,000 people and indirect employment to more than 150,000 people. The Coca-Cola system in India is contributing in its own small way to building sustainable communities through community initiatives like Support My School, VEER, Parivartan and Unnati and by reducing its own environmental footprint.

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola system in India is comprised of Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd. (CCIPL), the concentrate manufacturing entity and 15 authorised bottlers of The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), which are responsible for the production of ready-to-drink, non-alcoholic beverages under the Trademarks of TCCC, their distribution and sale in the territory of India. The system also comprises the India branch office of Coca-Cola India Inc., which provides guidance in relation to development of business in India.